A Patent Glossary

The Business of Patents

Why a patent glossary? Sometimes you don't want to read a long article about a particular patent subject - you just want a quick definition of a patent term.

Hence - the patent glossary.

This will be a work in progress - as new questions come in about how to understand various terms. For each term I will give a fairly concise definition - and then provide useful links for those who want to know more. The links will be to other pages on this site and also to the right place in the MPEP. What is the MPEP? It is the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure - the Bible for patent examiners (and patent prosecutors).

One other point. This is a PATENT glossary, not a general purpose intellectual property glossary. But I will throw in some occasional definitions for copyright and trademark matters if I think they might be needed for small business people and individual inventors.

And one other point. The focus is on patent prosecution, not litigation, which I do not practice, and i hope you never have to face. However - I do throw in some occasional definitions on some important considerations regarding litigation.

Click on the letters or letter combination's below to visit the glossary.